Safety-anchor for window-cleaners.



M. G. FINLAYSON.

SAFETY ANCHOR FOR WINDOW CLEANERS.

APPLICATION man IAN-25, 191B.

- 1,274,404. Patented Aug. 6, 1918.

MURDO G. FINLAYSON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

SAFETY-ANCHOR FOR WINDOW-CLEANERS.

. Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 6, 1918.

Application filed ifanuary 25, 1918. Serial No.-213,645.

To all whom it may concern:

Be itknown that I, Munro G. FiNLAYsoN,

a citizen ofthe United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety-Anchors for Window-Cleaners,of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to-safety anchors for window'cleane'rs'of the general type employed 'o'nta-ll buildings as a permanent means of attachment and anchorage for the safety ropes or straps with which each windowcleaner who works upon the outside of the building is equipped.

It was formerly the practice to screw a :pair of lag sorews into-eachsideof the window casingin predetermined space relation, and the headed outer ends of these screws which were left projecting beyond-the outer faee of the casing served as the anchors to which the ends of the safety rope or strap wcre'attached'. Many serious-accidents have resulted from failureof these lag screws to hold, either by reason of rusting of the threadsor rotting of the wood so that the screws would pull out. As the result of these accidents the use of lag screws as anch'ors for'thispurpose have been practically abolished.

One of theiprimaryobjects' of my present invention is the ,provision of an anchor which can be so securely fastened and anchored to the building structure that all'pos 85 sibilit y' of its giving way is eliminated, with the result that the anchor can be used indefinitely without danger of accidents.

Another object of my inventionis to providean anehorwhich can be used either in connection with a wooden window frame, or can be anchored in-the stone or brick work adjacent thewindow when metal window casings are employed as they frequently '-are in modern building construction.

To facilitate' the understanding of. my invention, I have illustrated on the accomip'anying drawings preferred embodiments thereof-from inspection of which, when con- I sidered in connection with the following description, my invention and manyIofdts 1nherent advantages shouldbereadily understood and appreciated by those skilled in the art through: on'e'ofthe anchor rods; and

Fig. 6 is a similar view showing-a differcn'tl y shaped rod.

From an inspection of the drawings, and particularly Fig. 1 thereof, it will be -ob served that reference character 7 indicates generally the window casing, comprising the outer'mcmbcr 8, the inncr'memberit), and

the transverse member 11. The upper and lower window sash shown diagrammatically and indicated by reference numerals Hand '13, respectively, are guided in :the window casing in the usual manner, the upper sash being guided between the outer member 8 and th'ecentral guide strip 141,: and the lower sash being guided between the parting strip 14 and an inner guidestrip 15. The'structure'thus far described is of well-known construction and does not constitute part of my present invention.

The anchor forming the subject-matter of my .present invention is adapted to be securely fastened to the window casing so as to leave projecting lugsat the outer side to which the safety ropes or straps of the window cleaner may be attached. The anchor comprises. a member 16 adaptedto abut against theouter face ofthe window casingand serves as a wallengaging abutment and also a spacer bar asw11l appearhereinafter.

This member is' provided near each end with an opening adapted to receive'one of the anchor rods '17 preferably made'of wroughtor I'OllGdlIIIGtitl. These rods are provided at their outer ends with heads 18,

and "adjacent these heads with tapered apertures furthermore are of such size that they will slip onto the tapered shanks of the rods only a limited distance with the result that the headed ends of the rods prgject outwardly beyond the member a predetermined distance so as to afford ready attachment for the clips with whichthe' safety ropes of the window cleaners are equipped. Thepurpose of the member 16 is to space the projecting ends of therodsjthe requlsite, distance apart, to insure projection of the headed ends of the rods the requisitedistance outwardly from the window casing so that the safety clips can be readily'attached thereto, and also to prevent the rods from turning or rotating so as to loosen them from the anchor members at their. inner ends which will'be later described. 'In order to prevent this rotating movement of the rods with respect to the member 16, the rods and members are securely fastenedtogether before the anchors are shipped. I have illustrated in'Fig's. 5 and 6 two ways of accomplishing this result. 'In'Fig. 6 the shank 19 and the tapered opening 21' through the imember 16 are both circular in form, and

together. In Fi rotativemovement of the rods with respect tothe member. is prevented by spot-welding the member to the rods. The spot-weldmg operation fuses the metal. of therods with the metal of the. member 16 so that they become integrally united and rigidly secured g. 5 the result is secured by making the-tapered shank 19 square instead of round, the tapered opening 22 in the member 16 beingcorrespondingly shaped so that when the rods are firmly wedged into the openings rotative movement of the rods with respect to the member is precluded, and the spot-welding operation in this form is not entirely essential, although the weld ing may be employed if preferred to make a more rigid connection. 1

. The devices are shipped withthe two, rods inserted through the member 16 and attached thereto as previously described, and

are. bored through the window casing from 1 front to rear to accommodate these rods 17 was shown in Fig. 1.". The inneriends of the ..i-.ods. will proj ect. inwardly beyond'the inner I ember 9-:of :the casing, and they are se- I" curely anchored against longitudinal with- -drawal y screwing a nut 23 upon the inner end of .each'rod; In order to insure against the: nut, 23 becoming accidentally loosened,

a split spring washer 24 is preferably interposed :between the nut 23 andthe'inner face .fiof the member 9.

' washers equipment.

7 Sincefthe rods/are held 1 magainst rotative movenient by lthe member --16, it-will be manifest thatz the probability a of the rods I becoming loose or unfastene'dnis reduced to a minimum, particularly in view of the fact that the nuts 23 are threaded onto the rods tightly so as to draw the member 16 snugly against the outer face of the casing. I

In Fig. Qihe window casing is'o'f the same general construction as that shown in Fig. 1 and the anchor is substantially the same in all respects. In this instance, however, the building structure includes a mold-v ing 25 vdisposed upon the outer f e f the window casing, and the member 16 abuts against this .molding instead of directly against the window casing. The rods 17 in this instance are necessarily a little longer, but it should be understood that the length of these rods is alwaysproportioned to meet the requirements of the building to which they are to be applied.

In Figs. 3 and a I haveillustrated a form of my invention whichis particularly applicable to brick buildings which usuallyemploy metal window casings. The anchor in this instance is set directly in the brick wall adjacent to the casing. 1 Themember'16 and the outer ends of the rods 17'are constructed and assembled similarlyto' those previously described, but their innerends are permanently secured together by bar 26 which-is either Welded tothe ends of the rods, or the endsof the rods are threaded and the bar is provided with correspondingly tapped openings into which the ends of the rods arethreaded before themember 16 is engaged with the shanks ofithe rods to prevent 10o their rotation. In some instances it may be desirable to further-strengthen the threaded ing the device in the 'wall'with theheaded f 7 ends of the-rods projecting adjacent to'the when they are to be applled parallel holes metal window casing 28 in position to be engaged by the safety clips ofthe' window It is believed'that my invention-will 'be readily understood from the foregoing with out further description,- and while I have shown and described two practicaland preferred embodiments of the invention, it should be appreciated that various changes I 'in the size, shape,' prop ortion and manneni Y of "assembly" of the various parts may be V resorted to without departing from the spirit'of'the invention asdefine'd in the following claims. 1

I claimria' 1; l A. safety; anchor fcomprisingwa p'air bf 3 V substantially parallel Wrought metal rods, a combination wall-engaging-abutment and spacer-bar through which the rods pass and with which they are engaged to prevent rotation of the rods in the bar, said rods being shaped a predetermined distance inwardly from the front ends of the rods for rigid engagement by the spacer bar in its relative position, the front end of each rod having a head, and means applicable to the rear ends of the rods for engagement with a wall to prevent longitudinal withdrawal of the rods.

2. A safety anchor comprising a pair of substantially parallel wrought metal rods, a combination wall-engaging-abutment and spacer-bar through which the rods pass, said rods being shaped a predetermined distance inwardly from the front ends of the rods for rigid engagement by the spacer bar in its relative position, the front end of each rod having a head, and means applicable to the rear ends of the rods and for engagement with a wall to prevent longitudinal withdrawal of the rods.

3. A safety anchor comprising a pair of substantially parallel cylindrical wrought metal rods, each rod having a head at its front end and tapered from the head rearwardly a predetermined distance, a combination Wall engaging abutment and spacer bar through which the rods pass, said bar normally engaging the tapered portion of the rods and wedged thereon to prevent rotation of the rods, and means applicable to the rear ends of the rods and for engagement with a wall to prevent longitudinal withdrawal of the rods.

MURDO G. FINLAYSON.

Copies 01' this patent may be obtained for flve cents each, by addressing the "Gommiuioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0." 

